Dubai Declaration vows to protect mother, child health

Dubai, Feb 3, 2013 (WAM) - Delegates at a United Nations-convened High-level meeting on saving the lives of mothers and children in the Eastern Mediterranean Region held here on Thursday agreed to urgently accelerate steps to improve maternal and child health between now and the end of 2015. The meeting, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, also committed to reduce the gap between current funding levels and those required if the region is to meet Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on reducing maternal and child mortality. The meeting was attended and addressed by UN Messenger of Peace and Chairperson of Dubai Healthcare City Authority Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, wife of Sheikh Mohammed, in the presence of Abdul Rahman Mohamed Al Oweis, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Acting Minister of Health; and Essa Al Maidoor, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority. “The hard truth is that in this region, around 39,000 women die as a result of pregnancy-related complications and around 923,000 children under five die of avoidable causes every year,” said Princess Haya. “Our development as a region, as individual nations and communities, is dependent on our ability to nurture our children, to give them the best we have to offer, and to ensure they have equal access to education, to health, and to ensure they grow into healthy mothers and fathers, and ultimately, healthy citizens.” - Emirates News Agency, WAM